The Little Lord Street Band
A Minute of Another Day
Independent
If there was one genre that would be ideal to provide some lightened relief during this most difficult of times, perhaps it is country, and The Little Lord Street Band feel like one of the best propagators of the genre in Western Australia right now. After several well-received EPs and more live shows than you can count, their debut album is here. A Minute of Another Day is classically sun-drenched and bourbon-soaked alt-country, with songs crooned from the heart and the head.
The makings of A Minute of Another Day began back in 2017, but it’s been worth the wait. The album is bursting with relentless raucousness that is underpinned with homespun melancholy. Additionally, the songwriting is emotional and passionate, touching on cornerstones of the country genre – love and loss, depression and joy.
The Little Lord Street Band is made up of lead singers James Rogers and Natasha Shanks, backed by Michael Savage (bass), Alex Megaw (drums and percussion), and Belle Harvey (mandolin, harmonica, guitar). There’s a lovely balance throughout between Rogers’ and Shanks’ vocals, providing dual viewpoints. Who Am I is a feminist song from a male perspective, reckoning with the politics of the country genre (“Who am I to bring a woman down?”), while on the lilting and tender closing track Fighting for Air, Shanks vividly details her story of mental health and panic attacks (“Under she goes/ Fighting to be heard/ She’s fighting for air”).
Frankies Back in Town is a rollicking number with catchy hooks that picks up the pace. The inspirational Minute of Another Day then plays out a tale of finding meaning in life under a wonderfully crisp twanging guitar line (“Wake up/ Won’t you wake/ Don’t waste another minute”).
There is plenty of Fleetwood Mac in the band’s style, particularly in Shanks’ bittersweet and kicking vocals, that channel the character and cadence of Stevie Nicks on the lovelorn Where Are We and the barnstorming Setting Your Tale on Fire.
There are also more solemn moments. At the Bar, describes a familiar country narrative about a lonely dweller resting his chin on the bar crooning his life story, as Rogers sighs “there’s pain behind the smile.” Through the Night is another highlight, with a considered and melancholic piano beneath delicate and emotional harmonies.
A favourite of the Perth live scene (they supported the late, great Justin Townes Earle last year), the band must have been keenly missing performing for their fans since having to cancel their Fighting for Air national tour earlier this year due to COVID-19. Luckily, then, they’re rectifying that in WA over the coming weeks with a massive regional tour befitting of an album, and a band, of pure quality.
CONOR LOCHRIE
